Koopa In the Clouds
by ThatRandomAuthor
Summary: When Bowser sends out Ludwig oversee plans to gather rare items that are only found on Earth, I manage to intervene, and disrupt the work altogether. Chaos reigns and fear spreads when a huge secrets is let out, and can only be fixed by two people. My POV. Me x Ludwig Nickname: KITC
1. Cloudy Castles

**This chapter has undergone a lot of changes since it was first uploaded. I guess I still have a lot to learn about publishing stories! XD**

**I don't think I'll tinker with it anymore. Some sentences have been changed, though. :P **

I hopped out of my moms car, eager to go home and relax. My foot caught on something hard, and I wavered, knowing what had happened even before I hit the ground.

I tried to balance out my weight like I always did, but I had extra school junk in my backpack, making me fall down silently into the night. "_oof!_" I mumbled, sitting up.

A smile broke across my lips despite myself. A giggle sounded in my throat, and I got up slowly, going into hysterics. "Did you _SEE_ that?" I chuckled as I tripped up the stairs. My mom and brother had already gone into the house. I threw my head back and laughed very loudly, as I thought at how silly I must look.

Then something caught my eye. I squinted into the cloudy, starless night sky, when I realized that the clouds had formed a slight shape. "Hey," I said to myself. "DAS A CASTLE!" I shouted in a high voice, and went hysterical again. I went into my room, and collapsed into my bed, trying to compose myself. As the door closed, though, a little light pulsed behind the castle-shaped clouds.

The next day, I shrugged into my coat and my book bag, then slapped my hand against the doorknob. Once outside, I slumped into one of the rocking chairs on my porch, waiting forlornly for my mom to come out to unlock the car door. I lazily looked at the clouds, my mind foggy, then realized that the same castle shape was still there. I immediately imagined it was W7, and giggled at the thought. School dragged.

At home, I tripped yet again, and rolled on to my back. looking up at the sky, I realized the cloud had changed, but not moved. The shape was more distinct, and built. I was getting curious. Sighing, I got up and trudged into my home.  
Days have passed, and I was getting quite mad. The cloud had become rich and majestic, more realistic every day. I had blogged on DA, discussed the situation with Ida, even tried to tell my parents about it.

It knocked my socks off when I found they couldn't see it, and I began to spend hours studying it. One day I hopped down the stairs and raised new binoculars to my eyes. The biggest shock came to me. I saw that closer up, the cloud had faint but obvious color. It was light and dark blue, with laurels and windows. The shapes were faint, but my jaw hung open in surprise. I ran out into my yard, rolling the focus to the maximum.

"It _is_ a castle..." I whispered. Then I noticed wavers in some places that moved location constantly. They looked like what you would see through a heat wave, but seemed much smaller. I focused hard on the wavers, and soon they too came to the slightest focus. I pinched myself at what I saw, just to be sure I was awake.  
Koopas and goombas, with boards and nails and hammers.

I watched them work on the castle for a while.

_Explains how it's getting bigger. Stronger._

I reluctantly looked away from my binoculars as my mom called me in, and slowly walked back to my house. I glanced back once more at the construction before going inside, not sure if this was just a big dream.

The clouds hovered above the extremely large forest in front of our house, which would have passed as a jungle if the trees were an inch taller. I've never been in those woods. There are always noises in there, and the darkness welcomed with a bloodcurdling howl. But today, my curiosity was juts too great, and it overwhelmed my fear.

I had a flashlight, a compass, and a sketchbook, to record any images that would seem important. I gave a quick shout of notice to my mom, and headed out of the door. I had on my orange-striped jacket, some shorts, and an adventurous air. As I neared the edge of the forest, something shuffled from within.

I shivered, and plunged into the darkness.

I shined my light around, searching for...For...I wasn't really sure. I was looking for something that would hint of the strange Castle in the Clouds, of the goombas and koopas. I secretly knew what I was looking for, but I denied myself. Soon I found myself lost in the dark maze, my only priority becoming sunlight and a warm blanket. Wet, deep marsh replaced the cold, compacted dirt, and I felt myself tripping over underwater roots.

I sat down on a half-submerged log, and sighed deeply, my way of showing fear and frustration at the same time. Then the log shifted.

I jumped up and fell in the water, my heart thumping. I immediately thought that I had sat on a crocodile instead of a log, but as I looked, the log was indeed a log, but it seemed to have something stuck in it.

I cautiously walked forward, inspecting the log from all sides. "Hello?" I jumped again at the voice from the log, creating a mild splash. The voice continued in relief.

"Good. You're still here. I though my commotion would have scared you off. C...could you give me a hand?"

My mind boggled. I went over to the log, and knocked on it.

"I'm not a talking log, I am an actual entity with flesh and blood that's stuck _in_ the log!" The voice said in annoyance.

I stood back, running my hands through my now muddy hair. My clothes were soaked with murky water, and I was frozen to the bone. What more could happen?

I searched around for something to smash the log open with. I felt around the foot-high water, gripping my hand on a smooth stick, and walked back to the shaking log.

"Brace for impact!"

I warned as I lifted the heavy stick over my head, and brought it down with a mighty "_CRAAK!_" The log split along its spine, and I pulled at the soggy bark, until I found the trapped...Person?

Scaly yellow skin, dirtied by the mud and water, and a hard spiked shell, which had been the cause of the creature's misfortune.

It was a koopa! There was no doubt about that.

He lugged himself up, stretching up to my height, save for a few inches taller, and stared me in the eye. He blinked, and stepped back from me, observing me. I soon recognized him as I saw his prominent tooth in the middle of his mouth.

"Ludwig!"

I gasped, falling backwards over an uprooted tree. A strong hand took my arm and pulled me up.

"I don't know how you recognize me, but I'm afraid you will no longer. I'm going to need that back."

Ludwig pointed to the stick I had used to break open the log, which I had held on to.

I gave it to him in a stupor.

After fussing with his hair for a few seconds, he gave up and pointed his wand at me.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit."

Nonetheless, I flinched as a blue flare shot out from the tip, and engulfed me.

My eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, and I drifted off into a deep sleep, my memories of that encounter floating out of my awareness.

I woke up at the edge of the forest, blinking awake. Shaking my self off, I realized my jacket was cleaner than usual, and all my clothes were slightly damp.

_Must've fallen in some water,_ I thought, even though that didn't explain the sudden cleanliness.

I got up and shook off the leaves that had stuck to me, and walked back to my house, which was a little ways down the street.

My mom opened the door and stared at me, cross. "What..?" I said as I walked in, her eyes following me. "You've been gone the whole day, even when I called you back in! I told you not to go far into those woods."

I was confused. I didn't go anywhere! How could I have been gone the whole day and not have heard my mom call?

"I don't understand. I woke up at the edge of the woods! I didn't go anywhere." I protested.

"Well I didn't see you."

"..._Huh?!_"

I was really confused. I was just over the rise! On the hill, in an obvious spot! "Whatever. I don't know. I'm going to draw." I said, mentally shrugging off the conversation. "Dinner is almost ready!" My mom called as I shut the door.

I spent the next few days as usual, and the wake-up-in-the-forest incident soon went out of mind.

I had forgotten about the mysterious cloud formation, and I no longer bellyached about it, until Ida reminded me. We were talking one day, when she suddenly stops. "What happened to that big, cloud castle thing you were going on about?"

She asked, and I spaced out.

"...what?"

I said, confused.

"That cloud thing. remember? You kept telling me about it, about how it never moved."

I shook my head. "I don't remember-"

suddenly I got a really big headache, and I doubled over in pain.

"Ow..." I murmured, holding my head.

"_**Y**_o_**u o**_k_**ay** _b**_ro_**?"

My best friend's concerned sounded like daggers into my eardrums.

"I just got like the worst headache ever..." I moaned.

When suddenly it stopped.

I felt very lightheaded for a few seconds, and blurry thoughts fly into mind.

The "log" flashed back into my mind like lightning.

"Ludwig!"

I gasped, jerking upright.

"Yeaaahhh Whaddabout 'im?" Ida asked.

"'GTG' real quick Ida!"

I said quickly, jumping away from the computer and into my room, searching for my orange jacket and a pair of adventure jeans.


	2. Confrontation

I hurriedly thrust my arms through the sleeves of my jacket, bursting outside.

I ran back into the forest, trying to retrace my steps to find back to where I had found the log. The land started becoming marsh again, and I knew I was going in the right place.

"C'mon...Where are you..."

I murmured to myself as I scanned the lines of trees, searching for something that would remind me of my encounter with the koopa prince.

I took a moment to catch my breath, when I realized how fast my heart was beating.

I decided to calm down and examine my surroundings. I looked around for something to get an aerial view with.

I was never really good at climbing, but I had to be for this moment right now.

I saw a tree that I decided had enough knots and gaps for me to straddle unto, and jumped at the surface.

I hugged the tree desperately, wishing the undulating surface was on a more slanted tree, instead of one so straight.

The rough bark dug into my skin on my hands and cheek, and I slowly inched my way up the tree. After a while of climbing, I knew from then on that I shouldn't look down.

"Just keep climbing...just keep climbing..." I noted time and time again.

As I neared the leafy boughs, a strong gust whirled past me, and I held my breath, stiffening.

This was no ordinary wind.

I tried to scan the skies as best I could without the leaves blocking my view, searching for the source.

Over there!

A small koopa cart just skidded past, landing down somewhere nearby.

Whooping in joy, I nearly lost my footing on the tree.

Giggling madly to myself I slid down the tree, scraping up my hands in the process, but at the moment, I was invulnerable to all pain.

I headed in the general direction of the landed machine, my footsteps splashing up tall walls of water around me, and depositing droplets on my glasses. I had no time to clear the lenses, just to run.

I was so distracted with eagerness and joy I nearly ran into the hard belly of the machine, skidding to a stop just before a light collision that knocked me back with a soft, "_oof!_"

I heard the confused "_hm?_" I knew too well from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and let out a silent squeal.

I scrambled up, peering over the edge of the green rim of the koopa cart and was met by another pair of reflected curious eyes.

Both of us gasped at the closeness of our faces, and I stepped back nervously.

Ludwig growled.

"I thought I took care of you!" He roared, slamming his fist down.

I grinned. "You can never 'take care of' me!" I gloated.

To my surprise, Ludwig climbed effortlessly out and grabbed me roughly, and I gasped in pain as he crushed me to his body.

"Your right. Even if the spell wore off, no person in there right mind would come back, and taunt me nonetheless!" He said thoughtfully.

He stepped halfway into the cart, keeping one leg in and one leg out. He placed me down inside, turning me over roughly and binding my hands behind my back.

"Hey man, I didn't do anything!" I yelped, attempting to escape my capture.

"Your going to get me caught. I just know it." He grumbled, and I wasn't sure if he was answering my plea, or talking to himself.

"I have to find some fuel for the cart..." He ended abruptly. Ludwig was staring at me. I wriggled my shoulders impatiently, not wanted to spend eternity tied up.

"Hey, Earth to Ludwig, do you read me?"

I would've waved my hand in front of his face if they weren't bound.

He jerked to life again and shook his head, muttering unintelligible things and climbed back out the cart.

"I'll be back!" He called, and I got up on my knees and watched him until the last of his blue hair disappeared among the vines.

It hadn't been long when Ludwig finally arrived again.

He froze when he saw me, as if he forgot I was there, then grumbled something, and heaved sticks inside, nearly hitting me. I scooted out of the way, mewling in complaint.

Sniffing indignantly, he hopped in himself, and I had to stifle a giggle as the copter shook at the sudden weight.

Ludwig stuffed branches and twigs into the hidden engine, and turned a key with a Bowser emblem on the end.

The engine spluttered, taking in the foreign fuel, and lifted off slowly.

Ludwig let out a whoop of triumph, leaning over the edge to determine how much speed we were getting.

I sighed very audibly, leaning back until my head thumped against the wall of the copter.

As we neared the cloud level, the giant mass that I had assumed was a hallucination grew closer, and came into more detail.

It was indeed a castle, no doubt the castle to World seven.

"Why are you building your castle here, in the human world?" I asked curiously, peeking over the top of the vehicle.

Pushing my head back down with a silent hiss of caution, he answered.

"We plan on making multiple bases in this world, this one being the first, in order to get access to things here that don't exist in our own world. And in order to do that, we need to know as much as we can about humans as possible, so we don't disturb them, and get ourselves discovered." Pausing, he glanced at me for a second before continuing, as if he thought it was too complicated for me.

"Since we have such few over in our world, and the fact that they pretty much hate our guts as much as we hate theirs,"

I instantly thought of Mario and Luigi.

"We needed to get the information from the beings who _didn't_ know of our existence, ironically the beings we need to avoid."

If that was so... then that means...

"You're going to do tests on me."

"Mm-hm."

"And keep me, since I know to much."

"For a human, you catch on fast."

I folded my arms, frustrated.

"Humans aren't dumb, you know. You can see all of our technology all over the world."

Ludwig laughed, and patted my head like I was a young child. "Yes, it's quite obvious, all the big, complicated structures that can be found all over you humans are proud of."

"The reason why we koopas laugh at your species, is because you always take the long route."

What did he mean?

"We're the most resourceful creatures on Earth!" I argued. Ludwig only laughed again.

"On _Earth_," He retorted.

I was so into our conversation, that I hadn't realized we had landed.

Hopping out, I waited for Ludwig to come. As we were walking, he paused and pulled out some sort of small, thin square with no immediate features.

He tapped it three times, and it projected a hologram. His hand whisked on the screen several times before selecting a box, and began speaking into it.

"Incognito mode."

after waiting for a few seconds, he continued.

"Hey, dad, it's Ludwig. I got a rather... interesting human specimen here, and am taking her as our lab rat."

He grinned, and glanced at me. I pouted, folding my arms, only pretending to be mad.

Ludwig paused, then groaned.

"Yes, yes I _know_, keep a close eye on her! I've seen your acts of kidnapping one too many times so believe me, _She's not going anywhere._"

And to prove his point he glared at me and snatched my wrists. "Ah! Dude, who said I even _wanted_ to leave!?"

I complained, attempting to yank my wrist away, but Ludwig's grip only tightened.

Ludwig turned his attention back to the small white square.

"She's about Morton's age, and about my height more or less..."

Pausing, he grabbed my head with his free hand, covering my ears, and I gasped in shock.

My attempts to yank his hand away were feeble, and I could only see him put the square up close to his face as he spoke into it quickly, grinning at me.

When he let go, I tried to punch his arm, but it had no effect on him.

"What the Bob-omb was that for?" I huffed.

Ludwig only laughed and threw his arm around me. I struggled with the blow.

"Nothing, kiddo." He chuckled, closing his fist around the square, ending the projection.

Even though I was still mad, I was curious about the little square.

"What _is_ that thing?" I asked, staring at the hand that still clenched the mechanism.

Ludwig shrugged, but the amusement was clear on his face.

"Oh, nothing but a top-of-the-line nano-compressed communicator." He mused.

I stared in awe. "You can talk to otherkoops with that?" I asked.

"Not only that, but you can smell, taste whatever is put in this capsule from the other side by licking it, and see whatever is shown on the other side through the micro camera."

He bragged.

"And you know who made it?" I shook my head.

"None other than my brother Iggy, despite how mad he is." He grinned.

I was jealous. Humans wouldn't have this kind of technology until 3050.

**Sorry for the awkward ending! I tried to curb it so that it sounded like a good place to leave off but... ^^;**

**This is it for the pre-written stuff, now I have to work on fresh, new things! :D**


End file.
